502 CARNIVORES. 



any part of the world of so small a mass of broken land, distant from a continent, 

 possessing so large an aboriginal quadruped peculiar to itself. Their numbers, 

 have rapidly decreased ; they are already banished from that half of the island 

 which lies to the eastward of the neck of land between St. Salvador Bay and 

 Berkeley Sound." These wolves do not associate in packs, are largely diurnal, and 

 are usually silent, except during the breeding season. They burrow in the ground, 

 and prey on geese and penguins, but are now nearly exterminated. 



THE KABERU (Canis simensis). 



The kaberu, or Abyssinian wolf, is a little-known species, taking its Latin name 

 from the district of Simen, or Semyen, in Abyssinia, where the first specimen 

 brought to Europe was obtained. Although of about the same size as the coyote, 

 it has no claim to be regarded as a true wolf; and may rather be looked 

 upon as an abnormal kind of jackal, in which the size of the body, and notably that 

 of the jaws, has increased, without any corresponding enlargement of the teeth, 

 which are far smaller than in the true wolves. The kaberu, which inhabits 

 mountainous districts, has an extremely long and narrow snout, larger ears than 

 the true wolves, and a thick bushy tail like that of a jackal. Its general colour 

 is a light reddish brown with a tinge of yellow ; the mouth, chest, under-parts, and 

 the front of the lower portions of the legs being whitish. The greater part of the 

 upper surface of the tail is mottled with black, and its end is of that colour. 



THE JACKAL (Canis aureus). 



With the common jackal we come to the first of a group of species of smaller 

 size than the true wolves, with which they are to some extent connected by the 

 one last described. Their bushy tails are relatively shorter than in the wolves, 

 being generally equal to about one-third the length of the head and body; 

 and their skulls may be distinguished by the smaller size of the flesh-teeth as 

 compared with the molar teeth behind them. As in the case of the wolves, there 

 is some difference of opinion as to the specific identity of the jackals of different 

 countries. The Asiatic jackal is subject to considerable individual variation in 

 point of size ; the length of the head and body varying from 2 to 2 J feet. Its 

 general colour varies from a pale isabelline to a pale rufous, with a larger or 

 smaller admixture of black on the upper-parts. The under-parts are paler, and 

 the muzzle, ears, and the outer sides of the limbs more rufous than the rest. The 

 reddish brown hairs of the tail have long black tips, thus forming a distinct black 

 tip to the tail itself. The African variety is of rather larger size, with relatively 

 longer ears ; and the sides of the body are greyer, and the outer surfaces of the 

 limbs less rufous. Occasionally rufous, black, and white varieties of the jackal 

 have been met with ; the latter being true albinos. 



The jackal ranges from the south-eastern countries of Europe to India and 

 Ceylon; thence it extends through Assam to Northern Pegu and the neighbourhood 

 of Mandalay, although it is much less common east of the Bay of Bengal than in 

 India. In Northern Africa it inhabits Egypt and Abyssinia, and the districts to 



